Auditor General scolds PTSC: $850m not properly accounted for

AUDITOR GENERAL Jaiwantie Ramdass has expressed an adverse opinion about the 2020 financial statements of the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) in an auditor general’s report dated November 8, 2024. The report and statements were recently laid in the House of Representatives.

Ramdass became Deputy Auditor General in 2019 and Auditor General on November 15, 2023.

Former PTSC chairman Edwin Gooding, while needing to view the report, did not reckon anything was untoward, in offering his initial impressions.

Ramdass expressed dissatisfaction over the accounting for $850 million in accumulated deficit and government grants.

“In my opinion, because of the significance of the matters discussed in the basis for adverse opinion section of this report, the accompanying financial statements do not present fairly the financial position of the corporation as at September 30, 2020 and of its financial performance and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with international financial reporting standards.”

The Auditor General explained the basis for adverse opinion.

Firstly, she cited the PTSC’s statement of financial position as being an accumulated deficit of $339 million and non-current liabilities – government grants of $511 million.

Ramdass then said, “Documentary evidence produced and explanations provided were insufficient to verify the correctness of the accumulated deficit balance of $339,056,080 and the government grant figure of $511,809,146.”

The Auditor General queried the PTSC’s statement of financial income for 2020.

In the PTSC’s notes to financial statements, “government grants” listed a balance brought forward of $489 million plus amounts received of $288 million, with $3 million in adjustment to accumulated depreciation. From this sum, $269 million was transferred to income. This all left a net figure for government grants of $511 million (compared to $489 million for 2019.)

The Auditor General’s Report expressed some concern at those figures.

Of the $269 million figure, the report said, “Government recurrent grant releases totalling $260,129,869 were verified. However the remaining $9,283,474 could not be adequately verified.”

The PTSC’s notes to financial statements gave a breakdown of the $288 million in government grants for the year 2020.

The highlights of those include $192 million in salaries, $26 million for fleet maintenance, $11 million for acquisition of buses, $10 million for security, $9.8 million for relocation of a PTSC garage in San Fernando to the former OAS Construtora site, and $9.5 million in pensions.

The PTSC documents also included a statement of comprehensive income.

This said PTSC has an operating income or earnings of $38 million in 2020.

However, its cost of operations was $205 million. This left a net loss on operations of $166 million.

Compiling this $166 million operational loss with $123 million in administrative costs along with other pluses and minuses to the balance sheet, the PTSC had a pre-grant net operating loss of $287 million. When a $269 million grant was added to the $287 million, it left a post-grant deficit of $18 million.

Newsday asked Gooding if the public should be concerned about the Auditor General’s concerns.

He told Newsday he had not yet seen the report and was no longer in office, but otherwise surmised the accounting seemed above-board.

Gooding said as far as he recalled, all the grants and disbursements made by the Government were accounted for in a particular way and these sums were accumulated over time.

“That is nothing new. That is years and years of accumulation.

“So what you need to look at is what was the deficit for that particular year. Then that is added to that big, massive figure that the Auditor General is talking about.”

Newsday asked about the Auditor General alleging a paucity of documentary evidence and explanations for the total deficit ($339 million) and government grants ($511 million.)

“My answer is in general in terms of how that accounting process is, but if you are speaking specifically about 2020, I’d need to have a read of the report before I could comment on anything.”

He said an accumulation debt was likely a large sum that stretched back to when the PTSC had begun. “It is an age-old thing that comes up all the time.”

Newsday asked about the Auditor General’s accusing the PTSC of poor engagement in saying “explanations provided were insufficient.”

Gooding retorted, “I would tell you that during the time I was there (until early 2023), we had a number of promises from the Auditor General that they would complete our audit by a particular date, none of which they met.

“I would like to know that if 2020 is where they have reached now, if that is the latest they have, it tells a story. How come for the past three years you all have not been able to review the accounts?

“You are now doing 2020.If there is a wrongdoing – whoever, whatever, if there is such a thing ­­­– the trail is cold now. So, providing accounts four years late is of no use.

“On top of that,the PTSC has to pay them for those late audits. Eh? Pay them for each one, each one of those audits that the PTSC cannot use for any meaningful purpose.”

He said while the PTSC has its own staff to produce its management accounts, the Audit General then comes in to audit these, and for doing so, charges a fee.

Gooding estimated such a fee could be almost $100,000.

“The Auditor General does not do your accounts for free. They incur costs.

“They come to your organisation and they do their work. So the organisation that is being audited has to pay. Of course they have to pay.”